1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fly traps, and more particularly to a fruit bowl that is adapted for trapping flies.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art teaches a wide variety of fly traps, many of which rely on fly paper to capture the flies. An example of such a device is shown in Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,434, which teaches a trap that includes a strip of flypaper that is enclosed within a protective enclosure. The enclosure includes apertures that enable flies to enter the enclosure, where they are trapped by the flypaper.
In some embodiments, the traps have been adapted to be placed in a kitchen and near fruits and the like. A kitchen trap, sold under the name BIOCARE, is advertised as being safe for use around food in a kitchen. In another example, the trap is shaped to resemble a piece of fruit, such as an apple-shaped trap that is commonly sold under the name TRAPPLE.
Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,878, teaches an insect trap that includes a chimney-type structure that holds a reservoir of an artificial attractant that is released out of a hole in the top of the chimney, to attract flies into the chimney so that they can be captured by an adhesive on the sides of the chimney. While there is a structure at the top of the chimney that is arguable similar to a bowl, there is no teaching to actually use this structure as a bowl for holding fruit, and the chimney-type structure is not particularly well suited for this task. The chimney structure would not fit well in a typical kitchen, and a hole at the top is large enough to allow fruit to fall into the chimney-type structure and into the reservoir of attractant.
Curtis, U.S. Pat. No. 7,694,456, teaches a bowl of an attractant that is adapted to be placed adjacent a bowl of fruit for attracting flies away from the fruit and into the trap. Both Curtis and Hill teach away from the present invention, which uses the fruit itself to attract flies into the trap that is integral with the fruit bowl.
The prior art teaches various forms of traps that include flypaper for trapping flies, and the prior art also teaches placing the trap in the kitchen near fruit. However, the prior art does not teach the placement of fruit in an integral bowl structure of the trap, as the prior art devices are specifically designed to only be traps and not to hold fruit intended for human consumption. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.